Hmmm…

“Mom’s know best…” no need for an apostrophe there.
“Kelloggs Corn Flakes…” there is however a need for one here (it’s your own brand!).
“Childrens energy levels”  here too.

I don’t know what’s worse, that the mistakes appear at all, or that they appear in a sentence about improving your kid’s energy and concentration levels, “allowing them to perform at their best.”

Oh the irony…!

Contestants are hooked up to a rigorous polygraph prior to the show and asked 50 (hectic) questions.

Some of those questions, and their answers are then revealed on the show, and the contestant has to answer truthfully. This time in front of friends and family, a live audience, and, well…us.

I tell you this, if you can go the full 50-minutes without cringing for the poor bastard in the chair, you’re a better person than me.

Catch it Friday nights on Mnet Series at 21h00 (with repeats Sat at 15h00).

Oh, and no amount of money could get me to take part …!

Contestants are hooked up to a rigorous polygraph prior to the show and asked 50 (hectic) questions.

Some of those questions, and their answers are then revealed on the show, and the contestant has to answer truthfully. This time in front of friends and family, a live audience, and, well…us.

I tell you this, if you can go the full 50-minutes without cringing for the poor bastard in the chair, you’re a better person than me.

Catch it Friday nights on Mnet Series at 21h00 (with repeats Sat at 15h00).

Oh, and no amount of money could get me to take part …!

First Prize 900 x 600 print on canvas.

Second Prize 600 x400 canvas print.

Third Prize 400 x 300 print.

Above is one such entry, taken in the Western Cape.

If you have some pics worthy of winning, submit your goods here.

I feel as a South African I should be talking about what an important film this is, and that we should all see it to understand what happens just a few kilometers from where we live – but bolloks to that. Sure it’s an eye-opener, but that’s not why you should watch it. You should watch it because it’s simply an epic film and a really great way to spend a few hours (the Isuzu Bakkie scene will have you in fits).

You’ll leave proud that it was made here, and yeah, a wee bit freaked out too…!

The event, about Google’s local plans was presented by two very talented speakers, Douglas Merril, Google CTO, and Stafford “air-bracket” Masie – so all the right ingredients were there.

Alas, it was a load of wank.

Douglas flew half way around the world to eloquently deliver what was essentially The Google Story executive summary. And Stafford other than wobbling his fingers a lot and telling us that his goal was to “light up Africa” with search, didn’t have much to say of substance at all.

What irritated me the most though was what they did say. In a nutshell, they do not see any difference in rolling out Google’s search in a market like South Africa than they do elsewhere in the world. This is madness. They just have to look at their own Zeitgeist for proof.

While the world is searching for Britney’s tits, South Africans are searching for “Absa” and “Standard Bank” (sadly, I had to refer to old data, as contrary to what was said today, Google don’t consider us important enough to list on their international zeitgeist anymore).

What this means is that we are not a search driven market, but a delivery driven one, people want to be taken places they know, they don’t necessarily want to find things they don’t. Regardless, we’re a fundamentally different market to the States and other first world countries, and it is only arrogance that would lead someone to think otherwise.

That, and the fact that for the first time ever I realised that Google was actually just another big corporate – it was like the day I found out there was no Santa. Sad indeed.

I guess in this case “No news” is bad news. ..!

He asked us if we could do anything to help, so we donated R5k and some of the Linkers put together this short vid:

Dig deep kids, or at the very least, spread the word for him, it’s a good cause…!

Once again, the other morning saw us wiping our eyes after hearing another heartwarming story on 94.7‘s Christmas Wishlist. This time it was for Adri Briel, whose 7-year old son sold his bicycle for R40 because she didn’t have money for bread.

He sold the bike, bought some bread and gave her all the change. What an amazing kid.

If you listen to 94.7 in the morning you’ll know all about the Rude Awakening team’s Christmas Wishlist segment, where they grant one person/family/community their Christmas wish. But it’s not like ‘I’d like a Ferrari’, it’s simple things that mean so much to the parties concerned.

Jeremy Mansfield and his bunch act as a catalyst between the person asking the favour and the people that are willing to help. Awesome.

Last week they arranged school fees and school uniforms for one particular kid to continue his schooling right up to graduation. School fees, uniforms and sports equipment. Calculate all that up. Thanks to Spar for sponsoring it, and continuing to sponsor it all.

This morning they arranged for a lady’s son, a mentally handicapped 28 year old, to get his one biggest wish, to ride on a fire truck.

I have no shame in telling you that I sobbed, and I’m sure that not one single person listening in this morning, whether getting ready at home or driving to work, had a dry eye. Just when you thought it was over Jeremy told his mom that next week her son has been invited to the Christmas party at the Ekhuruleni Fire Station, so he can experience the whole vibe.

Dude.

Catch the 94.7 Christmas Wishlist every week-night on MNET at 19:30 to see just what goes on every day. Amazing.

<image removed at request of publisher>

This guy is the director of direct distribution at Standard Bank.

I’m not really irritated, lets face it, it’s not like your money’s really at risk, but what the fuck were they thinking from a PR perspective, is this really the image they want to portray?

Maybe I’m just jealous though…!